Everything is a Remix Part 3: Innovation and Creation

Today I'm pleased to point you to the third part of the Everything is a Remix series. This one is my favorite so far, as it demystifies a series of inventions and creative works, explaining how creators are performing a copy-transform-combine cycle, using existing ideas to build upon them and make something new. Perhaps the best example of this phenomenon in pop culture (briefly discussed in the documentary) is Bob Dylan. See the film Bob Dylan: No Direction Home for more on that. But today, enjoy stories about various major inventions and artistic creations.

"The act of creation is surrounded by a fog of myths. Myths that creativity comes via inspiration. That original creations break the mold, that they’re the products of geniuses, and appear as quickly as electricity can heat a filament. But creativity isn’t magic: it happens by applying ordinary tools of thought to existing materials.

"And the soil from which we grow our creations is something we scorn and misunderstand, even though it gives us so much… and that’s copying. Put simply, copying is how we learn. We can’t introduce anything new until we’re fluent in the language of our domain, and we do that through emulation."

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Also on Mental Floss:

DID YOU KNOW? Marlon Brando hated memorizing lines so much that he posted cue cards everywhere to help him get through scenes.
He even asked for lines to be written on an actress's posterior. (That request was denied.)